The once promising indie film industry has all but disappeared from Hollywood in recent years. Author Edward Jay Epstein explores the complicated finances behind why Hollywood is abandoning the indie films in favor of big budget spectacles like Avatar.

You Talkin' to Me?

Can’t we all just rise and take over Hollywood? We’ll call it the Indie Revolution.

Seriously though, I do have some optimism when it comes to people seeing independent movies. In Denver, after a movie was done with Sundance, Cannes, etc. then it would distributed to Independent theaters such as the Elvis and Landmark theaters. I just moved to San Francisco, but I suspect it might be the same.

Yes, film is about the story, and not about the money, but it’d be very nice if hard working filmmakers could find financial stability through their work and not have to worry so much about trying to put a working production schedule together while working 2 jobs. Indie film is still having a hard time because our distribution and marketing methods are constantly evolving and shifting. ‘Kickstarter’ and ‘Vimeo’ are indie institutions, but they’re less than 10 years old and we’re going up against the system that has been in place for the past 100 years.